The brothers and sisters from refugee camps in South Sudan northern Uganda give greetings. The life of a refugee is not easy. Many of us were traumatized by losing loved ones, leaving house and property behind. The permanent lack of food and diseases traumatizes even more people. Now there’s one more enemy, Covid19, which took the lives of many in refugee camps.
Frequent lockdowns due to the virus are a disaster for many families. Living in refugee camps is really hard. The family of Lemy Kosmasa left the refugee camp Bidibidi last month because of starvation and the family returned to South Sudan. This week we found out that the family was murdered in cold blood in Lainya. Another sad situation is that the majority of teenagers in refugee camps are dropping out of school due to Covid-19 and being unsupervised all day many girls between 12–14 years old eventually get pregnant. And the father’s child, who is a teenager himself, runs away from the camp to avoid responsibility.
Rose Dima and Joyce Murata invited over 200 teenagers to a conference, and we praise God that 33 of them gave their lives to Jesus. Word of God is alive and we pray that God strengthened these new believers would grow in His word.
The South Sudan Baptist Union still had no single school for disciples until this moment. In 2013 the civil war began, and most believers were forced to flee to neighboring countries, including to Uganda. The Refugees camps are in primitive conditions, there is no electricity or amenities. The camps have drinking water and refugees get corn, flour, and beans to feed their families! Despite the hard living conditions in the camps over 100 churches were planted. Many of the ministers do not have an education, and we have prayed and dreamed several years of a discipleship Center. At the end of May 2021, we started building the first center discipleship in Moyo – Uganda.
Thank you for your help and participation in the evangelization of the people in South Sudan. May the Lord bless you and will reward you for your care!
The Baptist Association of the Omugo refugee Camp in the Arua area on the west of the Nile, Uganda, organized a three-day conference. Many people gathered despite the Covid-19 Lockdown. Among those who came, there was also a Satanist. His name is Loki (name changed) and he was sent on a mission to kill pastors who came to the conference. But the prayers of believers did not give him rest.
Loki himself belonged to a secret society called “Eliminators”. This society has its own base. Their agents sent to disrupt functions in churches, to scare and kill believers. Their community includes both men and women. If somebody joins them, the first thing they do is ask the new Satanist to name them a family member and this beloved person in the family should be sacrificed. Many people have been killed in a similar manner in the camps in the north of Uganda. We thank God for the fact that Loki was freed from demonic addiction. He was well-armed, but repenting handed over his weapons to the church leaders. All items of worship and amulets were burned as the first apostolic church did.
We pray that Loki will be faithful and steadfast in the
Lord. Please pray for his growth in the Word of God and knowing His way!
Greetings to all of you and thank you very much for your
partnership in preaching the Gospel. We wanted sincerely thank you for each
prayer for South Sudan. May God bless you at all times!
Churches in Juba city, South Sudan, raised their voices, praising
and worshiping God, thank you for your generosity and desire to support them
with food and essential items.
Refugees in the protection camp in Juba were not able to get food from the United Nations, but you gave them everything they need for life.
Our brother Sule, who you see in the photo, developed trachoma and went blind. For three days he, his wife, and child were without food. Due to loss of sight, Sule can’t work any longer in the city. We thank God that the local church quickly shared food with this family. Having received food Sule was delighted and started to sing in his native language – Bari. Neighbors
rushed by to find out why he is singing so loud. Instead of telling
them, Sule sang one more song. Then he revealed his secret to neighbors: “I
sing songs joy because I experienced a miracle. God sees and hears the prayers
of the blind. He sent me my daily bread.”
Friends, you saved many people from starvation! They are sincerely thankful for your generosity and help! The Lord will reward you!
At the end of September 2020, another clash happened between the two parties in South Sudan. Residents of the camps in Corijo, Andejo, and Moroto, were attacked. The shooting lasted from 4 am to noon. About 3 thousand people were panicking and ran to the border of Uganda. Most of them were women, old people, and children. Many fled their houses without clothes and food to hide in the nearby forests. When they reached the border, the police did not want to let refugees into the country out of fear that they are carriers of Covid19.
The Ugandan government and the UN Commissioner for Refugees visited a new camp, but it did not seem they received any help. We sent a team to this district and they reported that children are crying from hunger, people don’t sleep at night because of the mosquitoes. We bought ten tons of food and other items and rushed to deliver it to the north of the country. It was accepted with great joy.
People were standing for hours to get beans, flour, and soap. Despite all hardships they experienced, they were singing songs praising God for the support. On behalf of all churches in the Baptist association in Mijale, I want to express a big thank you for the support. May the Lord bless you and reward your participation. With a prayer for all of you…
Let me share with you some of the challenges faced by
pastors in refugee camps in northern Uganda and South Sudan. Most South
Sudanese are less educated and do not work in refugee camps. They were forced
to leave their land where they grew their food. The civil war in the country
made economic development impossible. Recently, the government of South Sudan
declared complete bankruptcy, including the central bank. They lost the inability
to control the pricing market in the country. Now the prices of the most
essential foodstuffs rise daily.
Now, due to quarantine, many families cannot feed
themselves. This week alone, I received over a hundred calls from refugee camps
asking for help with food and other basic necessities. One pastor named Godfrey
Lozo from Nimule in South Sudan said: “Listen, Pastor Dima, cornmeal is the
only thing I have left is, my family is starving to death.”
I don’t know what to do in such a situation. Many times, I
tried to hide, not to answer phone calls, so as not to hear stories about hunger
and death. But as soon as I turn on the phone, thousands of people call me
asking for help. As a pastor, I decided not to turn off the phone anymore,
because these are my brothers and sisters. Pray with me for this daily struggle
so that I can be steadfast. Pray that God will provide us during this difficult
time. Pray for refugees from South Sudan and others who have the same need for
their daily bread. Pray for peace for the people of South Sudan. We have
suffered enough and are tired of wandering. Help us!
